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Brexit: An Outside View

Will Britain's role on the world stage be diminished by leaving the EU? Views from veteran pro-Europe UK MP Ken Clarke, Dutch writer Joris Luijendijk and Ian Bremmer, president of Eurasia Group, a political risk research and consulting firm in Washington DC.
(Photo: British and EU flags at a protest in London in September 2018, Credit: Getty Images)

Amazon's New Headquarters

The online retail giant has announced that it will split its long-anticipated new headquarters between Long Island City In New York City, and Arlington, Virginia.
Some 238 cities across North America had competed for the role. But many residents at the lucky winners are angry about the billions of dollars in alleged "corporate welfare" offered by their city authorities to lure Amazon in. Winner's curse?
Michelle Fleury meets the protestors in Long Island City, while Edwin Lane speaks to urban studies theorist Richard Florida, Seattle-based professor of public policy Jake Vigdor, and to Vinous Ali of the British tech industry body TechUK.
(Picture: Boxes with the Amazon logo turned into a frown face are stacked up after a protest against Amazon in Long Island City; Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Green Rage

Climate change is an existential threat, so are civil disobedience and direct action the only way to save the planet? And is a global carbon tax the best tool to do the job?
Justin Rowlatt speaks to protestors from the new and militant environmentalist movement Extinction Rebellion as they occupy the UK's Department of Energy building in protest at their government's alleged failure to tackle global warming. He also speaks to Ben Stewart of the 49-year-old campaign group Greenpeace, who have themselves been targeted by their new rivals for not being radical enough.
But what policy change should they be calling for? Professor Bill Nordhaus of Yale University received this year's Nobel Prize for Economics for his work on economic models for how government's might go about taxing carbon dioxide emissions. But why does he think that so few governments are implementing it?
(Picture: Extinction Rebellion activists occupying the UK Department of Energy in London; Credit: Roger Harrabin/BBC)

Tackling Fake News

How can we deal with misinformation on WhatsApp? The spread of false, sometimes malicious rumours on the platform is on the rise. There are also growing concerns around privacy on WhatsApp, which faces less scrutiny than more public platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
In India, a spate of mob lynchings were linked to messages circulated on the platform. During Brazil’s recent presidential election, political groups exploited machine learning technology to bombard voters with campaign messages, some including misinformation, racist and homophobic content.
Kenyan writer and activist Nanjala Nyabola has been tracking issues with WhatsApp in east Africa and from Brazil to Myanmar.
Ed Butler hears from Eric Mugendi of PesaCheck, which monitors the spread of fake news in east African countries.
Also, Yasodara Cordova, a Brazilian researcher specialising in Data & Misinformation at the Harvard Kennedy School in Massachusetts, says Brazil’s electoral court was too slow to take action against harmful messages.
But author Henry Timms says part of the solution would involve a public debate about how and what we share online.
(Picture: A WhatsApp logo on a screen. Credit: Getty Images)

The Death of Expertise

Why do so many people think they know best? And are they putting dolts in charge of government?
Ed Butler speaks to Professor Tom Nichols of the US Naval War College, himself an expert on national security, who wrote a book on the subject why everyone from surgeons to electricians to academics find themselves under attack from novices and ignoramuses who think their opinions should have equal weight.
We also hear from Michael Lewis, whose new book, The Fifth Risk, examines the extent to which President Trump has neglected the US civil service. Is there a risk of something going catastrophically wrong - for example a nuclear waste containment or a natural disaster response - through the sheer inattention and incompetence of the people put in charge. Plus, might the root of the problem be the Dunning-Kruger Effect - a psychological trait whereby the inept are unaware of their own ineptness? We ask Professor David Dunning from the University of Michigan.
(Picture: Two-year-old girl plays with carpentry tools; Credit: lisegagne/Getty Images)